Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz Navidad!

Christmas celebrations in the West today

From November onwards, it is impossible to forget that Christmas is coming. Coloured lights decorate many town centres and shops, along with shiny decorations, and artificial snow painted on shop windows.

In streets and shops, 'Christmas trees' (real or plastic evergreen 'conifer' trees) will also be decorated with lights and Christmas ornaments.

Shopping centres become busier as December approaches and often stay open till late.Shopping centre speaker systems systems will play Christmas 'carols' - the traditional Christmas Christian songs, and groups of people will often sing carols on the streets to raise money for charity. Most places of work will hold a short Christmas party about a week before Christmas. Although traditional Christmas foods may be eaten, drink (and plenty of it) means that little work will be done after the party!

By mid-December, most homes will also be decorated with Christmas trees, coloured lights and paper or plastic decorations around the rooms. These days, many more people also decorate garden trees or house walls with coloured electric lights, a habit which has long been popular in USA.

In many countries, most people post Christmas greeting cards to their friends and family, and these cards will be hung on the walls of their homes. In UK this year, the British Post Office expects to handle over 100 million cards EACH DAY, in the three weeks before Christmas.


The Origins of Christmas

Around the world, more than 3 billion people celebrate. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Born nearly two thousand years ago, Christians believe Him to be the Son of God.

How did Christmas start?

Since about 400 AD, Christians have celebrated the birth of Jesus. 'Christ' means 'Messiah' or 'Anointed One' - the title given to Jesus - and 'Mass' was a religious festival.

In the West today, the real meaning of Christmas is often forgotten. It has become a non-religious holiday! More children believe in Father Christmas than in Jesus. Christmas Day is a time for eating and drinking too much and watching television.

But the real Christmas story is found in the Christian Bible. It is told in two different books: Matthew and Luke chapters 1 and 2. If you have no Bible, you can read these chapters online. You may think that the story of the birth of Jesus, and the way that the West celebrates Christmas today, do not seem to have many connections.

Christmas - History

Christmas - From the Bible - Matthew and Luke

Links:

Christmas at the White House
www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/

Christmas.com - Celebrating Christmas Around the World!
Welcome to Christmas.com! -- the world’s largest Christmas Internet portal. We
are the one-stop source for everything Christmas! ... Christmas.com Sponsor Links: ...
Description: Worldview, holiday entertainment, music, recipes, and shopping links.
Category: Society > Holidays > Christmas
www.christmas.com/

WorldView! - Christmas.com Around the World!
Christmas.com's WorldView started in 1994 as an effort to share how Christmas
is celebrated around the world. This year we've combined ...
www.christmas.com/worldview/

All Recipes - Christmas
... Over 845 Tried & True Christmas Recipes! ... Welcome! Login or Join for FREE! Click
to view all of our recipe collections Christmas Recipes. Appetizer Recipes. ...
www.christmasrecipe.com/default.asp

Songs of the Season
www.night.net/christmas/songs12.html-ssi

History
http://www.soon.org.uk/christmas.htm